Category Archives: health & happiness

all clear!

12 Tuesday Mar 2013

Posted by in cancer, friends, health & happiness, hope, hospitals

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pili and meHUGE sigh of relief… my PET scan was clear today and so I get another six months. I do wonder if this is becoming “routine” for those reading and – like with some people I know  – I get the “oh, don’t worry, you’re going to be fine!” thing beforehand and the “I knew you’d be okay!” afterwards. Which I know is a way of people saying that they are hoping for the best. But sometimes it feels like it is diminishing my own feelings about these tests.

I will be having PET scans every six months until next year and, if all is still well by that time, the scans will then be reduced to once a year. Why? Because I am still considered very high risk for recurrence. And why do I worry so much when I’ve had clean scans for the past four years? Because I’ve already lost a dear friend who was “cancer-free” for four years and another dear friend has been struggling through his latest recurrence for the past year or so. Trust me, these tests are very expensive. They don’t just do them as a matter of course – you have to be considered high risk.

Which is me.

botaniAnyhow, I went off in the rain early this morning and was thrilled to see that the lovely Pilar was a part of my PET team today. She is such a lovely person and a long-time friend. You may recall that back when I was sick on chemo and desperate about how I was going to get through the summer she gave me a month. So it was great finding out that she was on duty today. After my first run through the PET machine I sat with her in the computer room watching my scan images spinning around… first time I’ve ever done that. Pili showed me how this bit was like this, another bit like that. Kind of cool and also a bit freaky. Then we went off for breakfast and after that I had to go through the machine again (this almost always happens because I have a dodgy area that needs rechecking) and then suddenly I was okay!

But you know, after all the build-up of stress and worry it actually takes awhile for the Good News to sink in. So Peter met up with me and we went for a celebratory glass of Botani at the Vineria San Telmo, and then it was a walk home in the rain…

Now I’m here all cosy and thankful and kind of floppy, to be honest. This whole ordeal really takes it outta me. So I think I’ll just take it easy this afternoon and evening. The Next Six Months can start mañana…

4 down, 20 to go…

28 Monday Jan 2013

Posted by in health & happiness, home

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tip of the icebergSo yay! This morning I was officially down 4 kilos since I started (yet another) get healthy and thinner plan, this latest one the day after my birthday. I got an unexpected “boost” of a 2.5 kilo loss when I was sick as a dog for several days, and so far that weight is staying off. Anyhow, I seem to be onto something. I don’t really want to talk about my “technique” since it’s actually very simple and sensible and somehow I don’t want to jinx what seems to be working by talking about it. I know that probably doesn’t make sense, but it does to me.

What I can say is that it has nothing to do with that idiotic new 5:2 fad diet going around in which you starve yourself 2 days a week on 500 calories and then “eat whatever you want” for the other 5 days. I mean, doesn’t that sound like a perfect breeding ground for new and unusual eating disorders?

Meanwhile, I do know that this is the tip of the iceberg since I still have 20 more kilos to go, and I also know I’ve been here before. But this time I feel very optimistic that this is my time for change. As long as I get a clean PET scan in March I reckon this is going to be My Year. 🙂

change ahead

21 Monday Jan 2013

Posted by in diet & nutrition, health & happiness, home, hope, sevilla, work

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Change-Ahead
Nothing like spending most of a week stuck in bed and feeling like crap to focus on… other things. And as 2013 is still young, it’s also a good time to think about change and goals for the year to come. My main goal, of course, is to stay cancer-free, though there’s little or (I think) nothing I can do about that. Next PET scan will be in March. Will she get another 6-month reprieve? Stay tuned folks.

In other news, I may have to move! Not because I want to but because I don’t think I can afford to stay where I am. When I first took this place with Peter two years ago the understanding was that he’d be paying half the rent and bills, but unfortunately this isn’t happening. And no, I’m not going to try sharing with a total stranger (been there, too old for that now) so finding a smaller place I can afford on my own might be necessary. It would mean “downsizing” considerably, getting rid of furniture and probably my books – at least two rooms full of “stuff” – but at this point I’m ready to do whatever I have to. My food tours are really taking off but, you know, I don’t want to work my butt off and then still end up going into debt just so Peter can have a roof over his head. And the truth is that I don’t use the upstairs room or terrace much, since I spend most of the day working in the “livingroom office”. Anyhow, I’m just getting myself psyched up for this in case I have to move. There will be no rash decisions. So again, stay tuned.

On the bright side, I discovered this morning that I lost 2.5 kilos this past week! Which more than takes care of the “Christmas excess”, and kinda inspires me to keep on with the light eating thing. I’m still not quite ready to get back to the gym but, considering I lost this weight while mostly being curled up in the foetal position, I’m beginning to think there’s something to the theory that exercise, while good for maintaining general health and fitness, really isn’t such a big factor when it comes to weight loss.

So it looks like another day mostly at home, although it’s very blue and shiny out there and I’d love to get out. But I now have The Cough (which apparently happens around Day 6) and my chest feels like a fat dwarf – or Loki – is sitting on it. And without warning I start hacking away, which I do my best to stop, and have been pleased to discover that by careful breathing I’m actually able to stop it a lot of the time. But sometimes not and it feels like I’m going to turn myself inside out. A friend told me he coughed so bad during the Coughing Stage that he pulled a muscle in his armpit! Anyhow, I have two meetings tomorrow morning and am giving a friend a blog class in the evening, so I reckon another day at home is prudent.

What’s new with you guys? Have you got any plans happening?

the lost week ends

19 Saturday Jan 2013

Posted by in cats, friends, health & happiness, home, sevilla

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mark and joFinally this hellish week has ended. And rather nicely, as it turns out. Yesterday the awful cold-flu that kept me in bed most of the week was suddenly more cold than flu, which included the apprearance of a brand new scratchy throat and cough. But at least I could stay vertical for more than a couple of hours and, basically, didn’t feel so bloody crap. Even so, when my friends Mark and Jo (that’s them on the left) said they were going to be in Sevilla today and wanted to invite me for lunch to celebrate their 100th trip to Spain, I was pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to make it because I also had a tapas tour booked for tonight. I mean, I thought I might manage one or the other, but not both. And although Peter was happy to step in and help out I really don’t like “changing the guide” on my clients last minute. But then I heard from Sharon (one of tonight’s group of three) saying they’d be in town late this afternoon and were looking forward to meeting either me or Peter at 8.00. Huh?

I had forgotten that they’d made their booking when I was planning a trip to Barcelona and I’d told them at the time that because of this I couldn’t say if they’d be with me or Peter. And that was okey-dokey with them! What a relief. So I wrote back and explained that while my trip to Barcelona had been postponed I was just getting over a very bad flu and they would be going out with Peter after all. And then I decided to go and meet Mark and Jo for lunch! Though that almost didn’t happen because I started to “crash” again around noon and even the thought of getting dressed felt overwhelming. But M & J were already on their way to Sevilla by then and incommunicado so I was resigned to go, especially because I had asked them to change their original choice of tapas bar to one closer to my home.

At 3 o’clock we met at the fabulous Taberna El Paduro, which was heaving, but after a short wait we got a comfy spot at the end of the bar. And we had a great time. I realised that I hadn’t been out of the house in over four days and hadn’t actually walked further than from room to room, so it was nice to stretch my legs. But talking was VERY difficult because it kept setting off massive hacking coughing jags, which made it clear that I could never have done the tapas tour, since I obviously need to be able to talk. A lot. So it all turned out for the best. The tour booking arrangements, missing M & J so I couldn’t cancel lunch, getting out of the house, and then coming home again. Now I’ve got the heat blasting and am all cosy here with the cats while Peter is out doing the tour. Still with the coughing jags – so bad at times it feels like I’m going to hack up a lung – but I’m hoping that will ease off by tomorrow. And after that… a fresh new week!